What can Joss Whedon or Steven Soderbergh teach you if you don’t make movies or you aren’t a TV show creator? You might be surprised.

Over the past year, Co.Create has talked to some of the most prolific creative people around–directors, ad makers, CEOs, content creators of all stripes. Their insight on their own creative process is always interesting, but their words of wisdom are also remarkable for how applicable they are across disciplines.

A core part of our mandate has been to bring together a range of creative voices from across industries, the idea being that creativity is everyone’s business. And we’ve been consistently fascinated by just how translatable these voices are across creative boundaries.

Anyone who read all of these interviews certainly learned something about creating a web series or telling a story or building a brand, but these discussions with creative leaders also yielded, we think, some useful insight into being creative in whatever realm you work in.

We’ve combed through some of this year’s most interesting interviews and cherry-picked some of the essential advice that’s applicable whatever your creative calling.

Click through the slide show for the very best quick-hit advice we procured in 2012.JB